City of Powell River councillors were provided an update on the new bus lay-by at Powell River Town Centre mall, and are requesting a staff report to look into providing shelter and a washroom for bus drivers.
At the September 10 committee of the whole meeting, responding to correspondence from Jack Barr, president, Powell River Town Centre, city councillor Trina Isakson said transit shelters have not been installed at the bus lay-by station at the mall and she said it is an important matter to look at.
Councillor George Doubt said having read through the correspondence from Barr, there were a number of questions in the letter and they need an answer.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to about the new bus exchange says wow, it’s a really nice new bus exchange, but what about shelters?” asked Doubt. “It needs shelters. Where they will come from, I don’t know. I don’t think BC Transit has the money. I don’t know if we do, but we have to look into it.”
Doubt said there was also an issue about washrooms for the transit drivers, so he wanted to make a motion to receive the correspondence to staff to bring back a report about shelters and whatever associated expenses there might be with the new bus terminal at the mall, and the ways to resolve it.
Isakson said she wanted to make an amendment to add the option for an agreement for a dedicated driver washroom. The amendment carried unanimously.
Councillor Earl Almeida said it appeared from Barr’s correspondence and from the city’s dealings with BC Transit that getting a BC Transit shelter might not be the most expedient way to acquire a shelter. He said it might not be possible to get anything set up for the coming rainy season.
“When I read the letter, the thought that came to me was we have the Powell River Community Forest; we have a community that was built on a lot of sweat labour over the years,” said Almeida. “I don’t know how we can pull this off but my thought was some sort of shelter built with logs. If this motion passes, I would like to see some creativity rather than the standard metal shelter.”
Councillor and acting mayor Jim Palm said he has read the letter and had discussions with Barr as well.
“First of all, I want to compliment Mr. Barr for what he has managed to do to provide on his property the new turnaround,” said Palm. “It is serving everybody very well and everybody is really happy, including BC Transit.
“In terms of putting shelters and washrooms in place, part of the request was to provide some funding, and I would very much like to see a report. We will probably have something coming back from the community forest because there is an application in their docket. Having a report from staff and the community forest will hopefully bring some clarity to this issue.”
Isakson asked about receiving a report from staff in October, but chief administrative officer Lisa Bhopalsingh said it would be a stretch, because there are a number of other priorities and council projects in the works. City director of infrastructure Tor Birtig agreed that it would be a stretch.
Isakson said she wanted to make an amendment to the motion to have a report brought back in the fourth quarter of 2024. Bhopalsingh said some options could be provided to look at budget amendments.
“One thing council has to be cautious of is, because this is private property, we have to be aware of our limits,” said Bhopalsingh. “There needs to be some strategic ways of how we advance that. We can talk to BC Transit and look at their models in other communities and how they have navigated private land. We can come forward with some options to consider while being mindful of the aid to business component.”
The amendment to have a staff report in the fourth quarter carried unanimously. The main motion, as amended, also carried, so staff will bring forward a report regarding the bus lay-by in the fourth quarter.
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